[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The GreatViews expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.

To give you several examples on how cheap oil is in today’s market and to compare with some other liquids let’s take a look at the figures in the table below and remember that one barrel holds 5,376 ounces:
--------------------
Cheap Oil Increased Massive Consumption and Caused Global Warminghttp://www.iranian.com/Ashtiani/2005/September/Oil/index.html
---------------------
Products
Retail Price
Fluid Ounce
Price / Fluid Oz.
Price if sold per Barrel

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for a more aggressive attack by government on global warming, which could include the first national rules to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new cars, trucks and power plants.

In a 5-4 decision, the court rebuked the Bush administration and ruled that so-called greenhouse gases -- like carbon dioxide -- are air pollutants subject to federal regulation.

Bush and his aides, allied with automobile makers, argued that federal officials did not have the power to set mandatory limits on emissions of the gases.

A concerted federal effort to restrict greenhouse gases may not occur until the White House changes hands in January 2009. But at the least, the ruling knocked down a legal barrier that stood in the way of plans by several states to require reduced carbon emissions by new vehicles, starting in 2009.

The rise in the emissions of greenhouse gases has been linked by an array of scientists to a steady and potentially catastrophic rise in air temperatures. However, the administration maintained that the gases were not air pollutants as defined by the Clean Air Act.

That measure, passed in the 1970s, targeted specific pollutants, such as lead, that cause dirty air.

In its Monday ruling, the Supreme Court majority agreed that global warming represents a different kind of air-pollution problem. Gases such as carbon dioxide, once released into the atmosphere, "act like a ceiling of a greenhouse, trapping solar energy and retarding the escape of reflected heat," the court said.

The majority opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, said that the Clean Air Act said the Environmental Protection Agency shall regulate the emission of "any air pollutant" that is likely "to endanger public health or welfare."

He noted that the word "welfare" is defined broadly to include "effects on the climate and weather."

In scolding the EPA for not moving to regulate greenhouse gases, he said the emissions fit well within the law's definition of air pollutants and that the agency "has the statutory authority to regulate the emission of such gases from new motor vehicles."

The court did not say EPA must set national emissions standards for motor vehicles. But it made clear the agency must make its case if it chooses not to act.

"Under the clear terms of the (law), EPA can avoid taking further action only if it determines that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change or it provides some reasonable explanation" why regulations are not needed, Stevens said.

New regulations limiting greenhouse gases would probably force automakers to produce vehicles that burn less gasoline.

Disagreeing were the court's four most consistently conservative members -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito.

Roberts, in his dissent, said that even though global warming may be "the most pressing environmental issue of our time," how to deal with it should be resolved by Congress and the president, not the court.

A former Bush administration lawyer at EPA said she was disappointed in the ruling. "I agree with Chief Justice Roberts that the court stepped into a policy issue that is better left to Congress," said Ann R. Klee. "We need a global political solution to the global warming problem."

Automobile makers have said they are producing more fuel-efficient vehicles, but that federal limits on emissions would put them at a competitive disadvantage.

Reacting to the court's decision, Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the industry wanted to work "constructively" with Congress and the administration on a "national . . . economy-wide approach to addressing greenhouse gases."

Robert B. Jackson, faculty director of Duke’s Center on Global Change and professor of biology, said, “This really confirms what a mountain of evidence already suggests: that carbon dioxide harms the environment as a greenhouse gas. The billion-dollar question is how to regulate it as cheaply and efficiently as possible.”

Tim Profeta, director of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, said, “Today’s ruling flips the greenhouse gas debate completely on its head, by giving the next administration the authority to simply regulate carbon dioxide emissions without waiting for Congress.

“In this climate, a national cap-and-trade program should start to look a lot more attractive,” Profeta said. “Industry should be coming to Congress to design a flexible and efficient program right now; that’s a more certain approach than waiting for EPA to determine how to apply greenhouse gases to the Clean Air Act.”

Cap-and-trade programs are those that set overall authorized caps on emissions and then allow the buying and selling of those emissions credits.

By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to regulate vehicles’ emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases related to global warming.

The ruling is considered to be one of the most important on environmental issues to reach the Supreme Court in decades. It marks the first high court decision in a case that involves climate change.

“With this landmark ruling out of the way, we can finally roll up our sleeves and get to work on the problem of global warming,” Jackson said, adding that he could envision a cap-and-trade system that initially is implemented nationwide but ultimately expanded worldwide.

The "Geo-Cosmos", covered with one million LEDs (light emitting diodes), displays a simulation of future global warming at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in Tokyo April 5, 2007. Global warming could cause more hunger in Africa and melt most Himalayan glaciers by the 2030s, according to a draft U.N. report due on Friday which also warns that the poorest nations are likely to suffer most. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao(JAPAN)

April 7, 2007
the associated press
BRUSSELS, Belgium- As the world gets hotter by degrees, millions of poor people will suffer from hunger, thirst, floods and disease unless drastic action is taken, scientists and diplomats warned Friday in their bleakest report ever on global warming.

All regions of the world will change, with the risk that nearly a third of the Earth's species will vanish if global temperatures rise just 3.6 degrees above the average temperature in the 1980s-90s, the new climate report says. Areas that now have too little rain will become drier.

Yet that grim and still preventable future is a toned-down prediction, a compromise brokered in a fierce, around-the-clock debate among scientists and bureaucrats. Officials from some governmentsmanaged to win some weakened wording.

the associated press Journalists and others listen to a report on climate change at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Friday.

Even so, the final report "will send a very, very clear signal" to governments, said Yvo de Boer, top climate official for the U.N.
, which in 1988 created the authoritative climate change panel that issued the starkly worded document.

And while some scientists were angered at losing some ground, many praised the report as the strongest warning ever that nations must cut back on greenhouse gas emissions.

The report is the second of four coming this year from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of 2,000 scientists. The new document tries to explain how global warming is changing life on Earth; the panel's report in February focused on the cause of global warming and said scientists are highly confident most of it is due to human activity.

All four reports must be unanimously approved by the 120-plus governments that participate, and all changes must be approved by the scientists.

That edict made for a deadline-busting contentious final editing session that was closed to the public. However, The Associated Press witnessed the hectic final 3 1/2 hours of objections and conflict.

At one point, Chinese and Saudi Arabian delegates tried to reduce the scientific confidence level about already noticeable effects of global warming. They lower the confidence level from 90 percent to 80 percent. Scientists objected, and one lead author from the United States, NASA's Cynthia Rosenzweig, left the building after filing an official protest.

"There is a discernible human influence on these changes" that are already occurring through flooding, heat waves, hurricanes and threats to species, she said.

Under a U.S.-proposed compromise, the final report deleted any mention of the level of confidence about global warming's current effects. And that may have saved the day, according to some scientists who said the report had appeared doomed over that issue.

There were other disputes where scientists lost out:

_Instead of saying "hundreds of millions" would be vulnerable to flooding under certain scenarios, the final document says "many millions."

_Instead of suggesting up to 120 million people are at risk of hunger because of global warming, the revised report refers to negative effects on subsidence farmers and fishers.

Often it was the U.S. delegation who stood with scientists and helped reach compromise, said Stanford University scientist Stephen Schneider, a frequent critic of the Bush administration's global warming policies.

British scientist Neil Adger said he and others were disappointed that government officials deleted parts of a chart that highlights the devastating effects of climate change with every rise of 1.8 degrees in temperature.

Some scientists bitterly vowed never to take part in the process again.

Still, Adger and other scientists and even environmental groups hailed the final report as the strongest ever.

"This is a glimpse into an apocalyptic future," the Greenpeace environmental group said of the final report.

The tone of the report is urgent, noting those who can afford the least get hit the most by global warming.

"Don't be poor in a hot country, don't live in hurricane alley, watch out about being on the coasts or in the Arctic, and it's a bad idea to be on high mountains with glaciers melting," said Schneider, the Stanford scientist who was one of the study author's.

Africa by 2020 is looking at an additional 75 million to 250 million people going thirsty because of climate change, the report said. Deadly diarrheal diseases associated with floods and droughts will increase in Asia because of global warming, the report said.

The first few degrees increase in global temperature will actually raise global food supply, but then it will plummet, according to the report.

"The poorest of the poor in the world _ and this includes poor people in prosperous societies _ are going to be the worst hit," said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "People who are poor are least able to adapt to climate change."

But even rich countries, such as the United States say that the report tells them what to watch for.

James Connaughton, the head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality noted that food production in North America would rise initially, but so will increased coastal flooding.

The head of the U.S. delegation, White House associate science adviser Sharon Hays, said a key message she's taking home to Washington is "that these projected impacts are expected to get more pronounced at higher temperatures," she said in a conference call from Brussels. "Not all projected impacts are negative."

Schneider said a main message isn't just what will happen, but what already has started: melting glaciers, stronger hurricanes, deadlier heat waves, and disappearing or moving species.

It all can be traced directly to greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels, according to the report.

Martin Parry, who conducted the tough closed-door negotiations, said that with 29,000 sets of data from every continent include Antarctica, the report firmly and finally established "a man-made climate signal coming through on plants, water and ice."

"For the first time, we are not just arm-waving with models," he said.

But many of the worst effects aren't locked into the future, the report said in its final pages. People can build better structures, adapt to future warming threats and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists said.

"There are things that can be done now, but it's much better if it can be done now rather than later," said David Karoly of the University of Oklahoma, one of the report authors.

Story Highlights• Al Gore's Live Earth concerts will take part on July 7
• Acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna are set to play in London
• The former politician has no plans to run as a presidential candidate

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Environmental campaigner Al Gore hopes the Live Earth concerts on July 7 will do for climate change awareness what Live Aid did for Africa.

The former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate is spearheading efforts to get the world of pop music to back his crusade to avert what he calls a "planetary emergency," and already has Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on board.

"The Live Earth concerts on July 7 of this year will be the largest musical event in world history and the beginning of the biggest change we've ever had to make," Gore told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the concerts.

"It will be profitable for us. People who make the change to less pollution are going to find that their lives are better, the jobs are better.

"But we have to really make a commitment to this change, and that's what the Live Earth concert is really designed to symbolize and kick off."

The former U.S. vice president said there would be a series of concerts held across the world over a 24 hour period.

Following the model Bob Geldof used for his anti-poverty Live 8 gigs in 2005, Live Earth will be held in Johannesburg, London, New Jersey, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.

A U.S. venue was only announced on Tuesday after some Republicans in Congress rebuffed Gore's suggestion to stage a gig on U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington.

Organizers say the concerts could be watched and heard by two billion people worldwide, and acts already confirmed for London include James Blunt, Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"It will ... mobilize public opinion in ways that we hope will affect public policy and nations from the United States to China and every place in between," said Gore.

Climate change, celebrity
Gore believes that recruiting world famous performers is an important way of getting the message on climate change out.

He has already caused a stir in Hollywood with "An Inconvenient Truth", the Oscar-winning documentary he inspired with his slideshow, and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Sheryl Crow are active environmental campaigners.

A handful of complaints about Live Earth have already surfaced on the Internet, with bloggers questioning whether pop stars and their taste for conspicuous consumption are the best advocates for cutting fossil fuel emissions.

Gore himself has come under attack for high energy consumption at his home, although the 59-year-old defended his environmental record.

"It was very misleading," he said of the report from a Tennessee-based think tank.

"My wife and I, first of all, we have combined our home and office so the office activities are included in that.

"But more importantly we pay for green energy from sources like wind power that don't produce CO2 and at present in the United States, at least, that means paying considerably more to bypass the CO2 pollution.

"I'm walking the walk as well as talking the talk, and there will always be those who don't like the message and who want to attack the messenger."

Gore, who was vice president under Bill Clinton for two terms and narrowly lost a controversial presidential election to George W. Bush in 2000, said environmental campaigning had taken the place of politics.

"I don't have any plans to be a candidate again."

When asked if he was enjoying his return to the limelight in a new guise, he replied: "It's hard to enjoy something that is premised on solving this crisis that is very threatening. I think a great deal about my children and grandchildren.

"But alongside that, if you're doing work that feels fulfilling and useful and worthwhile, then there's a certain joy of labor that goes into that."

Incomplete Draft 3 Notes: Global Warming The Point Of No Return - Why and How Did We Get Here?

To: Anyone Who Cares About Mother Earth and Try to Make a Difference ....

Cyrus Questions wrote:

Who Was A Nut Mr. Simon? You Or His Majesty Shah Of Iran?

Ask Global Warming Concerned Scientists, Who Was Mad? Shah Of Iran or Simon or other Careless Elected Officials In Free World who ignored Shah Of Iran, and Al Gore warnings over 30 years ago …?

Global Warming Facts by the Numbers Chilling statistics to Think About :
Source URL: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentID=4981* 1 Rank of 2005 as hottest year on record (tied with 1998), according to NASA.
* 100% Increase in intensity and duration of hurricanes and tropical storms since the 1970's, according to a 2005 MIT study.
* $100 Billion Estimate of damage caused by hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast in 2005 alone, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
* 2030 Year by which Glacier National Park will have no glaciers left, according to the U.S. Geological Survey predictions.
* 400,000 Square miles of Arctic sea ice that have melted in the last 30 years (roughly the size of Texas), threatening polar bear habitats and further accelerating global warming worldwide, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.
* 15-37% Amount of plant and animal species that global warming could wipe out by 2050. Video Clip Global Warming: Point of No Return?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FVZSUsT-Ws

The perspective we get on Earth, our planet appears to be big and sturdy with an endless ocean of air. From space, astronauts often get the impression that the Earth is small with a thin, fragile layer of atmosphere. For a space traveler, the distinguishing Earth features are the blue waters, brown and green land masses and white clouds set against a black background. We should love and respect our small beautiful mother earth planet.
Many dream of traveling in space and viewing the wonders of the universe. In reality all of us are space travelers. Our spaceship is the planet Earth, traveling at the speed of 108,000 kilometers (67,000 miles) an hour. In order to control unlimited human greed and power in this century we must educate ourselves that as long as men can not create self sufficient spaceship like earth we must be wise how we use the earth resources and men is not the only owner of this spaceship.
Global warming is a real and alarming event that is not being given the attention it deserves - awareness of this problem by public is the key for finding solution and avoiding to get worse than what it is Bleakest report ever on global warming
Almost 6 decades of cheap petroleum have had devastating effects on both the demand and the supply side of the world's energy balance. The great conservation efforts, originally launched in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the resulting explosion in oil prices, have been abandoned. By 1975 even Americans, with their passion for large cars, were buying mostly so-called compacts with four-cylinder engines, and the smallest cars on the market were the ones most in demand.
We have to wonder what future generations are going to say about us if we can not stop this stupidity of careless free world politicians who are directly responsible for Global Warming of No Point of Return , this madness of our generation will get the blame for letting it happen. The Free World government wrong energy policies, our Cars, our City Planning , our Home Buildings, our office Buildings … are all based on cheap oil and energy with endless supply of energy without considering any side effects and consequences.

Global Warming Connected Dots Awareness and Alternative Safe Energy:

This open letter exists to raise global awareness about global warming and to help understand the problem, how dots connected and looking for solution and do not approve of the way this problem is being handled by Free World elected officials and UN in past 30 years. The pollution, especially from cars is a major cause of global warming.

How Did G7 Manage To Keep Oil Price Low :1) Professor Norman D. Livergood
“In 1979, the Standard Oil-backed Shah of Iran was thrown out by a British-backed coup and the long-time British asset, Ayatollah Khomeni, put into power.”Source URL: http://www.hermes-press.com/impintro1.htm
2) In past 30 years the secular Autocracies in the Middle East have replaced with the Fanatic corrupt Islamic Theocracy and corrupt religious government promoted by Neo colonialist Britain, France, German government elements with help of Lobbyists in Washington which is 100 times worse than pervious secular Autocracy for short sighted corrupt short term profit and cheap oil without any consideration for Human Rights, Free Society and Secular Democracy…. The evolution of Islamic Theocracy created Islamic fascism in Iran , Iraq and Afghanistan and Extreme Terrorist groups like al-Qaeda , Hezbollah, Hamas, Taleban …
3) In past 30 years major wars happened: Iran-Iraq War, Islrael-Arab Countries Wars, Afghanistan-Russia War, Iraq-US Gulf War 1, Afghanistan –USA War, War Iraq-US Gulf War 2 ….
4) No serious help and support by G8 for Corrupt Islamic Fascist Regime Change in Iran by Iranian people…
Cheap Oil increased irregular massive consumption and oil addiction in past 30 years and resulting Global Warming ….

Global warming at the extremes of the earth:
Paris, 2 Feb 2007 -- The world's climate scientists today reported unequivocally that the Earth's climate system is increasingly heating up and that it likely has not been this warm for at least 1300 years. The fourth report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that evidence for this includes more than increases in global average air and ocean temperatures.

Winners and Losers Of Cheap Oil Facts:
Why in Past 28 Years people of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and United States are considered as biggest Looser and EU, Japan , and China are the Biggest Winner:

1) In past 28 years the Iranian people under Islamist rules lost so much that the list is so big that we should read it in many articles and books.
Free world leaders did not declare Iranian Nation & Culture As Hostage Of Islamist Scorpion Occupiers Of Iran (Taazi) For Over Past 28 Years ……
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=30854#30854

2) In past 30 years EU countries, Japan and China enjoyed buying cheap oil and EU3 added over 3 dollars taxes to each Gallon for covering EU3 government expenses while American people are paying for Persian Gulf Oil protection by very expensive US Navy forces, in reality US is subsidizing OIL for EU3, China and Japan without good return to destroy American Jobs, standard of living and economy. American work force and American blood created EU3 welfare while 50% of American people can not afford even Health Care insurance .
3) So far Iraq cost was over 500 billion dollars for American Tax payers Over 2000 killed, over 20,000 wounded ... to have another Islamic Government in Middle East to make sure Shiite in Iraq have every rights for Ghame Zadan while in Iran Mullahs in power.....
4) G7 countries are partially responsible for helping to create and support corrupt Islamist Government in Iran and indirectly responsible for Islamist Terrorists ….
5) G8 governments ignored Human Rights, Secular Democracy, Regime Change in Iran by not helping Iranian people

Why and How did we get here?
Source URL: http://www.bookrags.com/1973_oil_crisis
The West could not continue to increase its energy use 5% annually, pay low oil prices, yet sell inflation-priced goods to the petroleum producers in the Third World. This was stressed by the Shah of Iran, whose nation was the world's second-largest exporter of oil and the closest ally of the United States in the Middle East at the time. "Of course [the world price of oil] is going to rise," the Shah told the New York Times in 1973. "Certainly! And how...; You [Western nations] increased the price of wheat you sell us by 300%, and the same for sugar and cement...; You buy our crude oil and sell it back to us, redefined as petrochemicals, at a hundred times the price you've paid to us...; It's only fair that, from now on, you should pay more for oil. Let's say ten times more."[2]

After 30 years of major Wars in Middle East, Islamist Terrorism and environmental disaster for planet earth the Environmentalist And Global Warming activists are considering Elected Free World Leaders and Neo Colonialists who ignored the facts … as real NUT and they were not faithful to the American founding fathers vision, principle, spirit of freedom, US constitution which are defined as below:

1- Have a secular democracy purpose
2- Have a Human Rights purpose
3- Have a Free Society purpose
4- Have a primary effect to increase freedom at global level.
5- Have the element of War Of Ideas to expand public awareness, education and expansion of truth.
6- Have an element of Freedom of Choice
7- Applying the U.S.A. Supreme Court accepted "Lemon test," to foreign policy decisions, strategy and conduct. According to the "Lemon test," in order to be constitutional, a law or public act must: a) Have a secular purpose. b) Have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion. c) Not result in excessive governmental entanglement with religion.
8- Move towards better unified global fair Justice System.

Over 2500 years ago The Ethical Persian Empire created by Cyrus The Great with the simple philosophy of Good Words, Good Thoughts and Good Deeds based on Human Rights and in past 30 years G8 countries policy towards Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan and others was based on Bad Words, Bad Thoughts, Bad Deeds, Extreme Greed , Ignore Human Rights, Not Support Secular Democracy Bribe and Support Islamic Fascist Occupiers Of Iran for Cheap Oil , exploitation of their resources and selling Arms for short term profit…..

Shah Of Iran like all other leaders of world is not without mistakes and one of his mistake was accepting wrong advise from both US and UK leaders not to give political freedom to Iranian people while allowing the Mullahs and Islamists to operate freely for wrong westeren fear factor from communism buble ….

After 60 years of free world leaders careless mistakes, it is time we should remember Shah of Iran as honorable man of peace with correct policy and vision regarding Oil prices and if the free world leaders had accepted his correct vision the world would not face with the kind of Global Warming and Point Of No Return that we are facing today, Islamist Mafia network…
The Islamist Mafia Terror Networks started with planned and plotted Islamist Revolution coup in Iran By British government, which directly connected to 2 Afghanistan Wars, 3 Iraqi Wars, Iran-Iraq War, Sept 11, Islamist Terrorism ....
The elected free world leaders and UN might not be able to solve the complex Global Warming problem in short period of time however they have good chance to stop expansion of Islamist Mafia terror network cancer now if we focus on regime change in Iran and not appeasing Islamist minority in Iran and try our best to replace the Islamist Mafia system in Iran with Free Society and secular democracy before it becomes too late …. Accepting that Mr. Simon, and other Free World leaders all failed us in past 30 years by ignoring the known facts and today is opening the new window for better understanding and strategy in future …

Video Clip Global Warminghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRc33Ow2di0
________________________________________________________________
Who Was William Edward Simon?
William Edward Simon (November 27, 1927 – June 3, 2000) was a businessman, a
Secretary of Treasury of the U.S. for three years, and a philanthropist. He
became the 63rd Secretary of the Treasury on May 8, 1974, during the Nixon
administration. He was reappointed by President Ford and served until 1977.

_________________________

Quote:

In Iran, Feeling the Heat
"The Shah of Iran pressed on me a fundamental point
about his nation that has become even more vivid over
the past two weeks. What the shah said, and almost said,
then sheds light on the confrontation occurring between
Iran and the world's great powers".

By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, April 15, 2007; Page B07

Dying from cancer a quarter-century ago, the deposed shah of Iran pressed on me a fundamental point about his nation that has become even more vivid over the past two weeks. What the shah said, and almost said, then sheds light on the confrontation occurring between Iran and the world's great powers.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi died weeks after our 1980 conversation in Cairo. It has taken the ayatollahs and other Islamic radicals who followed him to reveal how far backward, and forward, stretched the deeper meanings of the words he spoke, which had to be condensed into a conventional news story on that May day.

Iran is after all a place where reality usually comes not in words but in meaningful details that underlie -- and often belie -- the words. Fooling foreigners and adversaries is an ancient Persian art form. Saying exactly what you mean is a crude and dangerous way to talk, or to negotiate.

Such a telling detail lay beneath the shah's descriptions to me of how the British and American governments deliberately helped Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini bring down his regime in 1979. His bitter Anglophobia came to mind again the other day as I watched film of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blustering his way through the histrionic release of 15 British military captives and then, in the days that followed, defying the world anew over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The detail was that the shah blamed London much more than he blamed Washington for his fate. The Americans had been children playing at complicated games of power and espionage, while imperial Britain purposely mounted the plot to win favor with the ayatollahs. Or so the shah asserted.

The 15 captives grabbed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Iraqi waters on March 23 simply may have been targets of opportunity. But I doubt it. They were almost certainly seized as bargaining chips. In any event, Ahmadinejad played up their nationality in ways that suggest the imprint of the colonial era has not faded much from the Iranian political subconscious since the days of the shah. It still pays to twist the British lion's tail, even in nations where imperial control was largely indirect and economic.

Cultural history also plays an important role in the confrontation over Iran's determination to control uranium enrichment on its own soil despite international fears that Iran's secret goal is to develop nuclear weapons.

Every discussion I have had with Iranian officials on the nuclear program has included a pointed reminder that it was the shah -- with American and French encouragement -- who started the nuclear energy program that Ahmadinejad and the ayatollahs are carrying forward. These officials leave hanging unspoken this political fact of Iranian life: Their giving up control of the enrichment of uranium would open them to charges of being less nationalistic than was the shah.

The historical force of past intervention in Iran's affairs is obviously no justification for kidnapping British sailors and marines, for pursuing nuclear weapons, or for supporting terrorism in Iraq, Israel and elsewhere. But it is important for Americans to recognize how deep is the imprint of the past and how demagogues exploit it when they are in trouble. It will take broad and sustained campaigns of political and economic pressures to force change in the behavior of any Iranian regime.

Consider the bombast of Ahmadinejad and his aides in grabbing hostages again, in threatening to pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and in saying they will cut off negotiations if the United Nations continues to condemn Iran's nuclear program. The meaningful detail in Iranian threats not to talk to the West is that the Iranians are still talking to the West, however theatrically and unconvincingly. They stall, but they remain engaged, trying to fend off impending isolation.

This demonstrates that the financial and diplomatic pressures orchestrated by the Treasury and State departments are taking their toll on Ahmadinejad's regime. They should be continued and intensified where possible. Among those voting against Tehran on the latest Security Council censure were South Africa, which often breaks with the West on political issues to bolster its nonaligned credentials, and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Those votes were body blows to Tehran's pretense that the nuclear dispute reflects a continuing victimization of Third World peoples and resources by the rapacious British and other Westerners. So is the visible irritation of Russia's Vladimir Putin with Iran's refusal to consider his offers to guarantee Iran access to peaceful nuclear energy.

The diplomatic effort to assemble a united international front against Iran is paying off. One sign: President Bush displays no sense of urgency about having to decide on military action against Iran, recent visitors to the White House report. History, ancient and recent, shows that his best option is to continue on the high road of multilateral, peaceful pressures.

"The Shah of Iran pressed on me a fundamental point
about his nation that has become even more vivid over
the past two weeks. What the shah said, and almost said,
then sheds light on the confrontation occurring between
Iran and the world's great powers".

Dying from cancer a quarter-century ago, the deposed shah of Iran pressed on me a fundamental point about his nation that has become even more vivid over the past two weeks. What the shah said, and almost said, then sheds light on the confrontation occurring between Iran and the world's great powers.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi died weeks after our 1980 conversation in Cairo. It has taken the ayatollahs and other Islamic radicals who followed him to reveal how far backward, and forward, stretched the deeper meanings of the words he spoke, which had to be condensed into a conventional news story on that May day.

Iran is after all a place where reality usually comes not in words but in meaningful details that underlie -- and often belie -- the words. Fooling foreigners and adversaries is an ancient Persian art form. Saying exactly what you mean is a crude and dangerous way to talk, or to negotiate.

Such a telling detail lay beneath the shah's descriptions to me of how the British and American governments deliberately helped Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini bring down his regime in 1979. His bitter Anglophobia came to mind again the other day as I watched film of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blustering his way through the histrionic release of 15 British military captives and then, in the days that followed, defying the world anew over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The detail was that the shah blamed London much more than he blamed Washington for his fate. The Americans had been children playing at complicated games of power and espionage, while imperial Britain purposely mounted the plot to win favor with the ayatollahs. Or so the shah asserted.

The 15 captives grabbed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Iraqi waters on March 23 simply may have been targets of opportunity. But I doubt it. They were almost certainly seized as bargaining chips. In any event, Ahmadinejad played up their nationality in ways that suggest the imprint of the colonial era has not faded much from the Iranian political subconscious since the days of the shah. It still pays to twist the British lion's tail, even in nations where imperial control was largely indirect and economic.

Cultural history also plays an important role in the confrontation over Iran's determination to control uranium enrichment on its own soil despite international fears that Iran's secret goal is to develop nuclear weapons.

Every discussion I have had with Iranian officials on the nuclear program has included a pointed reminder that it was the shah -- with American and French encouragement -- who started the nuclear energy program that Ahmadinejad and the ayatollahs are carrying forward. These officials leave hanging unspoken this political fact of Iranian life: Their giving up control of the enrichment of uranium would open them to charges of being less nationalistic than was the shah.

The historical force of past intervention in Iran's affairs is obviously no justification for kidnapping British sailors and marines, for pursuing nuclear weapons, or for supporting terrorism in Iraq, Israel and elsewhere. But it is important for Americans to recognize how deep is the imprint of the past and how demagogues exploit it when they are in trouble. It will take broad and sustained campaigns of political and economic pressures to force change in the behavior of any Iranian regime.

Consider the bombast of Ahmadinejad and his aides in grabbing hostages again, in threatening to pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and in saying they will cut off negotiations if the United Nations continues to condemn Iran's nuclear program. The meaningful detail in Iranian threats not to talk to the West is that the Iranians are still talking to the West, however theatrically and unconvincingly. They stall, but they remain engaged, trying to fend off impending isolation.

This demonstrates that the financial and diplomatic pressures orchestrated by the Treasury and State departments are taking their toll on Ahmadinejad's regime. They should be continued and intensified where possible. Among those voting against Tehran on the latest Security Council censure were South Africa, which often breaks with the West on political issues to bolster its nonaligned credentials, and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Those votes were body blows to Tehran's pretense that the nuclear dispute reflects a continuing victimization of Third World peoples and resources by the rapacious British and other Westerners. So is the visible irritation of Russia's Vladimir Putin with Iran's refusal to consider his offers to guarantee Iran access to peaceful nuclear energy.

The diplomatic effort to assemble a united international front against Iran is paying off. One sign: President Bush displays no sense of urgency about having to decide on military action against Iran, recent visitors to the White House report. History, ancient and recent, shows that his best option is to continue on the high road of multilateral, peaceful pressures.

Those who are young enough to remember the November-December 1972 oil crises created by the Arab Oil producers can also remember that the only country remained out of this crisis helped the world, especially the Israel which was in war with Arabs, it was Iran . Yes, that was Shah of Iran who decided not interfering in such crises. This was before kidnap of Ahmad Zaki Yamani, and Jamsheed Amoozegar along with a few others by so called – never found – Carlos the Terrorist.

Those days were high times. Shah of Iran passionately emphesized cataclysm of the oil that the world would face if did not seriously look into the tragedy of massive usage of the OIL.

The world has never faced Peak problem like OIL crisis as year 1972. Europe had no gas in its gas pumps, the houses were facing a harsh winter. Most European were traveling on the bicycle, in Netherland anyone driving car over weekend did get ticket or booed by the pedestrians. Any traveler 200 Kilometer before the border did not get gas in the leaving country but in the next destination other side of the border. All it was due to the Arabs action.

Shah of Iran , passionately, brought the disastrous era ahead to the attention of the world’s nations. He was well aware that we would have to face massive crises if we did not find alternative or replacement for the oil, so we are preserving the remaining “Black Gold” for our children.

He did mention, the environment crises, he never used Global Warming but warned the world of such crisis if oil did not get alternative replacement. He mentioned using heat of the earth’s center core, waves, wind, solar energy, etc.,

He mentioned that without massive mitigation for fact we would face such crises that people might kill each other for a drop of OIL.

Him and his nation with such vision were the only one being sacrificed, the reason; saying the TRUE FACT. Today after 35 years, him and his nation facing dilemma, a leader with such advanced thoughts gets replacement with a retarded regime like of “Islamic Republic” and leader as Khomeini leading to a ridiculous result as Ahmadinejad.

Herein attached you are going to read the synopsis of a film coming soon; in my opinion it seems that this is direct hit by the European, in particular Britons against America. It has mention of America ’s passion for Middle East OIL, but has no mention of such THIRST by Britons, China , and Europe . The problem will be pervasive and will not be temporary if the world did not solve the Global Warming issue, distancing from OIL.

This would put an end to the life of Terrorist Regime of Ayatollahs as well as Iraq dilemma and the fear of terrorism around the world.

In my opinion the terrorists are funded by the oil companies, so they can benefit the most out of “buy back agreements”.

HC

OilCrash, produced and directed by award-winning European journalists and filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, tells the story of how our civilization’s addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with geology. Compelling, intelligent, and highly entertaining, the film visits with the world’s top experts and comes to a startling, but logical conclusion – our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.

The idea that the world’s oil supplies have peaked, or will soon, is gaining mainstream currency. Robert B. Semple, Jr., associate editor of the New York Times editorial board, writes in the paper’s March 1, 2006, online edition:

“The Age of Oil — 100-plus years of astonishing economic growth made possible by cheap, abundant oil — could be ending without our really being aware of it. Oil is a finite commodity. At some point even the vast reservoirs of Saudi Arabia will run dry. But before that happens there will come a day when oil production ‘peaks,’ when demand overtakes supply (and never looks back), resulting in large and possibly catastrophic price increases that could make today's $60-a-barrel oil look like chump change. Unless, of course, we begin to develop substitutes for oil. Or begin to live more abstemiously. Or both. The concept of peak oil has not been widely written about. But people are talking about it now. It deserves a careful look — largely because it is almost certainly correct.”

You needn’t be a conspiracy theorist to see a connection between America’s current obsessions with the Middle East and national security, and the world’s looming oil crisis. The frenzied search for alternative sources of energy now being pursued by the largest multinational energy corporations makes it clear they also believe a crisis is fast approaching. Each day’s headlines, whether the subject is Iraq or South America , sheds new light on the issue.

Producer Basil Gelpke explains: “Suddenly, seemingly unconnected news about Katrina and Rita hitting the Gulf Coast’s oil refineries; the ongoing war in Iraq; the nuclear ambitions of Iran; the populist politics of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela; the appalling corruption in most oil producing countries; the de facto nationalization of Yukos in Russia; the steep rise in costs of everything oil-related; and even increasing share prices of companies involved in solar, wind and nuclear energy all pointed in the same direction. Oil is running out, and nobody is ready for the cataclysm that is bound to follow.”

The film includes in-depth, thought-provoking interviews with Colin Campbell, Matt Simmons, Roscoe Bartlett, David Goodstein, Matt Savinar, Terry Lynn Karl, Fadhil Chalabi, Robert Ebel and many others. Shot on location at oil fields in Azerbaijan , Venezuela , the Middle East and Texas , with original music by Daniel Schnyder and Philip Glass, the film provides not only questions, but possible solutions to the most perplexing and important economic, environmental and public policy issue of our time.

One year ago, in a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, Robert L. Hirsch challenged the notion that the free market can solve the onrushing emergency:

"The world has never faced a problem like Peak Oil. Without massive mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be pervasive and will not be temporary. Previous energy transitions (wood to coal and coal to oil) were gradual and evolutionary; oil peaking will be abrupt and revolutionary."

21 min 50 sec - Nov 7, 2006
Average rating: (374 ratings)
Description: John Perkins, Part 1 The first of a three part speech given to the Veterans For Peace National Convention, Seattle, WA in August 2006. Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, in this part John discusses, from a hit mans perspective, the reasons and background to why we are at war in the Middle East.

30 min 30 sec - Nov 6, 2006
Average rating: (222 ratings)
Description: John Perkins, Part 2. The second of a three part speech given to the Veterans For Peace National Convention, Seattle, WA in August 2006. Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, in this part John discusses, from first hand experience, the globalization efforts of the corporatocracy in Central and South America.

16 min 19 sec - Nov 6, 2006
Average rating: (126 ratings)
Description: John Perkins, Part 3. The third of a three part speech given to the Veterans For Peace National Convention, Seattle, WA in August 2006. Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, in this part John takes Q & A and discusses actions which can be taken to counter the globalization efforts of the multi-national corporations.

We have arrived at the end of this book, and also at a beginning. You are probably wondering where to go next, what you can do to stop the corporatocracy and to end this insane and self-destructive march to global empire. You are ready to leave the book behind and pounce on the world.

You want ideas, and I could offer you some.

I could point out that the chapter you just read, about Bechtel and Halliburton in Iraq, is old news. By the time you read it, it may seem redundant. However, the significance of those newspaper articles goes far beyond the timeliness of their content. That chapter, l hope, will change the way you view the news, help you to read between the lines of every newspaper article that comes before you and to question the deeper implications of every radio and television report you tune in to.

Things are not as they appear. NBC is owned by General Electric, ABC by Disney, CBS by Viacom, and CNN is part of the huge AOL Time Warner conglomerate. Most of our newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses are owned - and manipulated- by gigantic international corporations. Our media is part of the corporatocracy. The officers and directors who control nearly all our communications outlets know their places; they are taught throughout life that one of their most important jobs is to perpetuate, strengthen, and expand the system they have inherited. They are very efficient at doing so, and when opposed, they can be ruthless. So the burden falls on you to see the truth beneath the veneer and to expose it. Speak it to your family and friends; spread the word.

I could give you a list of practical things to do. For instance, cut back on your oil consumption. In 1990, before we first invaded Iraq, we imported 8 million barrels of oil; by 2003 and the second invasion, this had increased more than 50 percent, to over 12 million barrels. The next time you are tempted to go shopping, read a book instead, exercise, or meditate. Downsize your home, wardrobe, car, once, and most everything else in your life. Protest against “free” trade agreements and against companies that exploit desperate people in sweatshops or that pillage the environment.

I could tell you that there is great hope within the current system, that there is nothing inherently wrong with banks, corporations, and governments - or with the people who manage them - and that they certainly do not have to compose a corporatocracy. I could go into detail about how the problems confronting us today are not the result of malicious institutions; rather, they stem from fallacious concepts about economic development. The fault lies not in the institutions themselves, but in our perceptions of the manner in which they function and interact with one another, and of the role their managers play in that process.

In fact, those highly effective worldwide communications and distribution networks could be used to bring about positive and compassionate changes. Imagine if the Nike swoosh, MacDonald's arches, and Coca-Cola logo became symbols of companies whose primary goals were to clothe and feed the world's poor in environ- mentally beneficial ways. This is no more unrealistic than putting a man on the moon, breaking up the Soviet Union, or creating the infrastructure that allows those companies to reach every corner of the planet. We need a revolution in our approach to education, to empower ourselves and our children to think, to question, and to dare to act. You can set an example. Be a teacher and a student; inspire everyone around you through your example.

I could encourage you to take specific actions that will impact the institutions in your life. Speak out whenever any forum presents itself write letters and e-mails, phone in questions and concerns, vote for enlightened school boards, county commissions, and local ordinances. When you must shop, do it consciously; get personally involved.

I could remind you of what the Shuars told me in 1990, that the world is as you dream it, and that we can trade in that old nightmare of polluting industries, clogged highways, and overcrowded cities for a new dream based on Earth-honoring and socially responsible principles of sustainability and equality. It is within our power to transform ourselves, to change the paradigm.

I could enumerate the amazing opportunities we have available to us for creating a better world, right now: enough food and water for everyone; medicines to cure diseases and to prevent epidemics that needlessly plague millions of people today; transportation systems that can deliver life's essentials to even the most remote corners of the planet; the ability to raise literacy levels and to provide Internet services that could make it possible for every person on the planet to communicate with every other person; tools for conflict resolution that could render wars obsolete; technologies that explore both the vastness of space and the most minute, subatomic energy, which could then be applied to developing more ecologic and efficient homes for everyone; sufficient resources to accomplish all of the above; and much more.

I could suggest steps for you to take immediately, to help others understand the crises and the opportunities.

Offer study groups about Confessions of an Economic Hit Man at your local bookstore or library, or both (a guideline for doing this is available at www.dreamchange.org).

Develop a presentation for a nearby elementary school on your favorite subject (sports, cooking, ants - almost anything), and use it to help students wake up to the true nature of the society they are inheriting.

Send e-mails to all the addresses in your file, expressing feelings triggered by this and other books you read.

But I suspect you have already thought of most of these things. You just need to pick a couple that most appeal to you and do them, and to realize that all of these are part of a much greater commitment that you and I must make. We must commit ourselves absolutely and unequivocally to shaking ourselves and everyone around us awake. We must hear the wisdom of the prophecies, open our hearts and minds to the possibilities, become conscious, and then take action.

However, this book is not a prescription; it is a confession, pure and simple. It is the confession of a man who allowed himself to become a pawn, an economic hit man; a man who bought into a corrupt system because it opened so many perks, and because buying in was easy to justify; a man who knew better but who could always find excuses for his own greed, for exploiting desperate people and pillaging the planet; a man who took full advantage of the fact that he was born into one of the wealthiest societies history has ever known, and who also could pity himself because his parents were not at the top of the pyramid; a man who listened to his teachers, read the textbooks on economic development, and then followed the example of other men and women who legitimatize every action that promotes global empire, even if that action result in murder, genocide, and environmental destruction; a man who trained others to follow in his footsteps. It is my confession.

The fact that you have read this far indicates that you can relate on some personal level to my confession, that you and I share a lot in common. We may have traveled different roads, but we have driven similar vehicles, used the same fuels, and stopped to eat at restaurants owned by the same corporations.

For me, confessing was an essential part of my personal wake-up call. Like all confessions, it is the just step toward redemption.

Now it is your turn. You need to make your own confession. When you come clean on who you are, why you are here during this time in history, why you have done the things you have -the ones you are proud of and those others - and where you intend to go next, you will experience an immediate sense of relief. It may be nothing less than euphoric.

Believe me when I say that writing this book has been deeply emotional, and often a painful and humiliating experience. It has been frightening in a way nothing I ever faced before has been frightening. But it has opened me to a sense of relief I have never known until now, a feeling I can only describe as ecstatic.

Ask yourself these questions. What do I need to confess? How have I deceived myself and others? Where have I deferred? Why have I allowed myself to be sucked into a system that I know is unbalanced? What will I do to make sure our children, and all children everywhere, are able to fulfill the dream of our Founding Fathers, the dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? What course will I take to end the needless starvation, and make sure there is never again a day like September 11? How can I help our children understand that people who live gluttonous, unbalanced lives should be pitied but never, ever emulated, even if those people present them- selves, through the media they control, as cultural icons and try to convince us that penthouses and yachts bring happiness? What changes will I commit to making in my attitudes and perceptions? What forums will I use to teach others and to learn more on my own?

These are the essential questions of our time. Each of us needs to answer them in our own way and to express our answers clearly, unequivocally. Paine and Jefferson and all the other patriots are watching over our shoulders. Their words continue to inspire us today. The spirits of those men and women who left their farms and fishing boats and headed out to confront the mighty British Empire, and of those who fought to emancipate the slaves during the Civil War, and of those who sacrificed their lives to protect the world from fascism, speak to us. As do the spirits of the ones who stayed at home and produced the food and clothes and gave their moral support, and of all the men and women who have defended what was won on those battlefields: the teachers, poets, artists, entrepreneurs, health workers, the manual laborers... you and me.

The hour is ours. It is now time for each and every one of us to step up to the battle line, to ask the important questions, to search our souls for our own answers, and to take action.

The coincidences of your life, and the choices you have made in response to them, have brought you to this point...

Last edited by cyrus on Mon May 07, 2007 9:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

1 hr 17 min 14 sec - Nov 8, 2005
Average rating: (24 ratings)
Description: The National Constitution Center continues its look at national and Homeland Security post 9/11 in a Citizens' Constitutional Conversation with Richard Clarke, presidential adviser for two decades. Clarke offers an insider's look at terrorism in America by discussing his work of fiction, The Scorpion's Gate, as well as Against All Enemies, and his real life, real time experiences. Richard Clarke began his career as Presidential Security Advisor in 1973. Clarke provided national security advice to Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Clarke specializes in homeland security, counter-terrorism, and cyber-security. He was the counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council when the September 11th attacks occurred. Clarke's second book, The Scorpion's Gate, is his first endeavor into the world of fiction. The Scorpion's Gate is a geopolitical thriller set five years into the future. The novel is centered around a battle between the Middle East and the United States to procure oil. Located on Philadelphia's historic Independence Mall, the National Constitution Center is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and its relevance to Americans' daily lives. For more information, call 215.409.6600 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.